Stellaris

Crew Log Eight: Communications Error

  We sleep in shifts, two people awake at all times. One watches the vent and the other watches the door. How can anyone sleep with an alien somewhere on the ship? I know I can't. Every time I close my eyes I see dead bodies and that thing towering over them. Parker and I take the next shift, he's watching the vent and I'm on door duty. Where the hell are you?

"I shouldn't have locked you guys out." He breaks the unbearable silence.

"You did what you had to do."

"I guess so." He sighs. "What happens when we reach Alpha Station?"

"If it's still alive by then, there won't be any Alpha Station. Right now, it's probably out there reproducing. So our chances of survival are getting lower." I rest my head against the door and sigh.

"We'll stop it." He says enthusiastically.

"Don't sound too happy. It's not easy."

Thump, thump, thump. The alien's feet stomp in the vent above us. Pointing to the flamethrower, Parker grabs it up and tosses it to me. He quietly brings the crew back to life while I trace the sounds with my eyes. It's heading right for the vent opening. The lights are suddenly cut off which makes a member of the team scream as loud as she can. My ears catch the loud thud of the alien hitting the floor. It's now in the room with us. My body is frozen and I can't see a thing. Something is thrown against the wall and cracked in half, I'm assuming it's one of us. I pull the trigger a few times, lighting the area for a few seconds. The alien is in the corner of the room near Abigail and Parker. Come on bitch, come at me. Pulling the trigger again, the flames bursting through the air, lighting the room once more. The monster has moved and I didn't even hear it. Clicking appears in my right ear and my body tenses up, it's right behind me. Quickly, I turn around but have no time to burn it. It picks me up and throws me down on the floor hard. Before it has time to do anything else, the flamethrower is in my hands and I'm shooting an endless stream of fire into it's face. It screams and jumps back into the vent.

"I got a light." Abigail says, cracking a glowstick that shines bright green.

"Holy fuck." Parker points to the mangled bodies tossed across the room.

"We have to make contact with Alpha Station right now and tell them what the hell is happening on this ship." I grab another glowstick and crack it over my knee. "Computer is down. Parker, any way to get communications up and running?"

"Y-Yes. Um, Comms Tower. It's in the second deck. You can restart the communication module which should power up the comms computer."

"Hannah, it's dangerous." Abigail obviously doesn't realize danger is all i've dealt with since boarding Stellaris.

"I know. Which is why I'm gonna distract the alien or aliens while you guys get the lights working."

"Here, take this...So we don't lose contact." Parker hands me a headset radio with a broken flashlight on it.

"Thanks. I'll be in touch soon." I snug it onto my head and head for the door.

"Wait. Hannah. We're missing someone. Marco...Fucker, I bet he shut off the lights."

"I'll find him." I press the red button beside the door, it beeps a few times then slides open.

The faint glow of green bouncing off the dark walls makes everything a bit more terrifying. I need to get to the second deck without dying, shouldn't be too hard. My heart is racing as walk through the corridors, every sound and every shadow makes my skin crawl. I feel like I'm being stalked and I probably am, but I have no time to turn around and look, I have to keep going. The backup light in the elevator shines just enough for me to take off running towards it. I want the alien to hear me, I want it to go after me and not them. I know how to take one down, they don't. I stomp as hard as I can as I'm sprinting towards the lift. Inside, I heave over and take in deep breaths. My finger clicks the up button while I'm catching what little breath I have.

"Hannah." Parker's voice crackles to life in my ear.

"I made it to the elevator. You and Abigail run into any trouble?"

"No." He chuckles. "No trouble here. Be careful, still don't know where Marco is."

"I have a feeling with my luck, I'll run into him shortly." The doors slide open. "Gotta go. Watson out."

I take one step out and there's a loud bang and then my left arm starts burning. Falling to the floor, I crawl to a large row of computer towers and hide. Shit, the glowstick. I toss it to the other side of the room and prepare the flamethrower for battle. My body leaps up and I round the corner, shooting a short burst of fire in the shooter's direction. He shoots again, this time it hits my leg, taking me down. His gunfire draws something more sinister. The alien comes running around the corner then stops, trying to sense where Marco is. Quietly, I ease my way under a table and stay there, hushing my breaths. Another gunshot and this time it's directed towards the monster. I can see them battle in the dim green glowing light. He rolls out of the way then jumps to his feet, the alien grabs both sides of his head a pulls up quickly. Marco's body hit's the floor and his head is tossed away and rolls at my feet. There's blood all over the floor, it's like a swimming pool. I almost puke, which makes a disgusting sound that the monster obviously hears. Adrenaline shoots through my body and I jump out from hiding and blast fire every which way. I've gotta find the switch to the computer, and I gotta do it quick. The alien doesn't care if I'm on a mission or not, it's gonna kill me either way.
Finally, I find the switch and pull it. I'm assuming it turned on the computer, and god I'm hoping it did. I head for the elevator but one jumps from the vent, blocking my path. There's now two in here with me.

"Fucker!" I scream, blasting fire at it. It's no use, it just walks through the flames. "Motherfuckers!"
I drop to the floor and prepare for my death. But a high pitched noise bounces of the walls and sends the aliens retreating.

"Watson." It's Fynn. He walks into the room, carrying a box in one hand and a small rod looking thing in the other. "You okay?"

"Fynn. You're alive." I'm shocked, I seen the thing pull him up into the vents.

The lights flicker on and now I can see he's caked in blood. "Just barely, Watson. Let's go."

"Hannah." Abigail says. "We got the power back on and now we're at the command deck. Communications is online. Good job."

"Thanks, Abigail. I found Marco, he shot but the alien took care of that bastard. I also found the captain. He's alive, we're headed back now."

When we reach the command deck, I fire up the computer and send distress signals. They don't seem to be getting anywhere.
"Alpha Station. This is Normandy 1, sending an SOS. Please respond."

"We're too far, Watson. They can't hear us." Fynn says, laying his hand on my shoulder.

I brush him off and scream into the radio again. "Alpha Station, this is Normandy 1. We're sending an SOS. Please respond."

"Give it a rest, Watson."

"No. Fuck you, Fynn! I've been floating out here for too damn long. Alpha Station, respond! We have four remaining crew members aboard Normandy 1 requesting evac." There's nothing on the other line.

"Come on. We need to get some food." Parker says. "We'll be in the Arc soon. Once we pass, Alpha Station might be able to hear us."

Stellaris was in Nebula, the farthest district we've traveled. It takes a few months to get to Arc, So I guess I was sleeping aboard this ship for a good while. Alpha Station is in Stellar, which is about a thousand miles outside Arc. God I hope they'll be able to hear us.